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A Massachusetts judge moved to declare a mistrial Friday in the high-profile case of Lindsay Clancy, the mother accused of strangling her three young children in January 2023, after jurors failed for a third time to reach a unanimous verdict. Judge William Sullivan announced the decision following a note from the jury confirming it remained deadlocked after seven days of deliberations.
“I’m going to declare a mistrial at this point,” Sullivan told the courtroom Friday morning. The announcement came after a nearly six-week trial that captivated the nation and reignited debate over gaps in maternal mental healthcare.
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Defense Fights to Avoid Mistrial
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington pushed back hard against Sullivan’s decision. He requested an emergency appeal to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, and Sullivan granted him one hour to file for an emergency stay before dismissing the jury.
By 1 p.m., more than an hour after Reddington left to pursue the appeal, no movement had occurred in the courtroom. Sullivan dismissed everyone for lunch. NBC News legal analyst Danny Cevallos described Reddington’s chances of success as carrying a “very low probability,” noting that while it was the defense attorney’s duty to exhaust every option, interim relief was unlikely.
Under Massachusetts law, a judge may ask a jury to continue deliberating only twice. Sullivan received the first deadlock note on Tuesday, the fourth day of deliberations. On Wednesday, the jury sent a second note stating it remained “still unable to come to a unanimous decision.” Sullivan then delivered what are known as Tuey-Rodriguez instructions, urging jurors to make one final effort and noting that reaching a verdict was “desirable.” When the third deadlock followed, Sullivan exercised his authority to declare a mistrial.
The Charges and the Defense Argument
Clancy pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children — Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months old — on January 24, 2023. The central question before the jury was whether Clancy bore criminal responsibility for the killings, or whether severe mental illness negated that responsibility.
Her defense argued she suffered from postpartum psychosis, a rare and serious psychiatric condition that can distort a new mother’s perception of reality. Reddington told the jury that Clancy had mentally deteriorated in the months before the killings and had repeatedly sought psychiatric help, including calling a suicide hotline, without receiving a proper diagnosis. Instead, she received multiple medications over a short period to address her symptoms and their side effects.
In closing arguments, Reddington blamed “the damn medicine and the lousy medical care that she got” for the chain of events that ended in tragedy. He also highlighted testimony from forensic psychiatrist Dr. Phillip Resnick, who concluded Clancy was in a psychotic state at the time of the killings. Reddington emphasized Clancy’s account of hearing a male voice compelling her to harm her children — a claim she reportedly shared with a hospital chaplain and her then-husband in a recorded phone call reviewed by a forensic psychologist.
“This young lady is not guilty of the killing of her children because she was suffering from a disease and defect,” Reddington told the jury.
Prosecution: A Deliberate and Calculated Act
Prosecutors rejected the defense’s portrayal entirely. They argued Clancy retained full control of her mental faculties on the night of the killings and planned the murders with deliberate intent. While acknowledging she had struggled with her mental health, prosecutors contended she manipulated her doctors and that she showed no signs of psychosis at the time.
Plymouth County Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sprague walked the jury through the prosecution’s account of events. She said Clancy intentionally sent her then-husband, Patrick Clancy, out of the house that evening to pick up dinner and stop at a CVS pharmacy. According to Sprague, Clancy researched how long the trip would take and called the store to confirm it had a specific medication in stock — actions prosecutors described as calculated efforts to buy time alone with the children.
Prosecutors said Clancy then strangled each child in succession using exercise bands before attempting suicide by jumping from a second-floor bedroom window. Patrick Clancy testified that he returned home to find “blood everywhere,” his wife bleeding outside the house, and all three children unresponsive in the basement with exercise bands around their necks.
Sprague told the jury the trial was not about failures in the mental health system. She acknowledged Clancy had depression but argued her providers were not at fault. Sprague noted that during psychiatric sessions with Dr. Jennifer Tufts, Clancy “denied having a suicide plan, denied wanting to hurt anyone else, denied voices” and “showed no signs of psychosis.” Sprague described the killings as acts of “extreme atrocity and cruelty” and argued the children had been the one factor keeping Clancy from taking her own life. “Those kids were her protective factor,” Sprague said. “It was a choice.”
A Trial That Divided and Moved the Nation
The Lindsay Clancy case drew intense national attention throughout the proceedings. Hundreds of supporters gathered outside the courthouse in solidarity with the defendant, and the livestreamed trial sparked widespread discussion about the adequacy of maternal mental healthcare in the United States.
The case also generated significant social media activity, including conspiracy theories and commentary from online true-crime communities. For many observers, Clancy became a symbol of systemic failures in how the healthcare system identifies and treats postpartum psychiatric conditions.
With the mistrial now declared, prosecutors must decide whether to retry the case. No announcement on that decision had been made at the time of reporting.
